TROUBLE IN PARADISE
by Aradiuth
Summary: Social outcast Anna "Raven"  Raveda, on the run since she was 13 from her diagnosis as mentally insane, finally comes to Las Vegas. Who else would see her performing magic for money on the street but Criss Angel? Needless to say, things quickly get messy.


**BELIEVE IN MAGIC (TROUBLE IN PARADISE)**

_Summary: Social outcast Anna Raveda (Raven), on the run since she was 13 from her diagnosis as mentally insane, finally comes to Las Vegas. Who else would see her performing magic on the street but Criss Angel? Needless to say, things quickly get messy._

_I own nothing but Anna Raveda, aka Raven._

"Pick a card, any card," Anna said carelessly, spreading them out fan style, face down in front of her. "Don't let me see it," she added warningly as the young boy made a show of selecting one in the middle. "You got it?"

The boy smiled. "Hell yeah, I got it."

"Put it back."

He replaced it in the right side.

Anna resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she curtly gathered the cards and shuffled them, throwing some fancily in the air, spinning them around and catching them all. It was like a sixth sense. Intuition. Almost instinct, how she knew.

She held the stack in front of him and waved her fingers slowly over the back of the top card. Slowly, a card from the middle started pushing itself out of the stack. She grabbed it and showed it to the boy.

"Is this your card?"

His friends gave oohs and aahs of recognition. The object of her scrutiny, however, folded his arms, showing that he wasn't impressed. "Yeah, that's my card," he admitted.

She smiled as she put it down. "You think I got lucky?"

He studied her sulkily. "What's your name, anyway?"

"Raven," she answered promptly.

He stared at her for a moment. "No, it's not."

Anna snorted. "You're right. It's Sparrow." She looked at him wryly.

"What is it with you and birds?" he wanted to know. "Prove your name is Raven, then."

Anna spread her arms, raising her eyebrows. "You want my birth certificate or something?"

"I want something," he said, shrugging. "Or else I think you're a fraud."

Anna rolled her eyes. "Ok, little boy."

The boy actually didn't look much younger than herself, but any age difference was enough for her to take advantage of her obvious superiority. He watched as she stood, stretching languidly.

Anna, meanwhile, was playing mind games, the same mind games that had gotten her in so much trouble back in her old, ultra-conservative town five years ago. She was going to treat her audience to an improvised trick. She pictured every detail of a raven, the black, silky feathers, the unfurled wings, and pulled it to herself – intuition. Ravens began to gather, flying in and circling above her. More and more gathered as the small group of male spectators sat there, wide-eyed.

Then, she sharply brought her arms down and the ravens all swooped down and around her, momentarily brushing her skin with their soft feathers. They obscured her from their view and, when they cleared, she was gone.

"Shit!" One of the boys exclaimed, surging to his feet. A few others followed. Even her aloof customer was startled.

Anna smiled at their confusion from behind, perched on a low branch of the huge oak. "Pretty cool, huh?" she called out as they all looked to see where she had gone.

She could barely keep from laughing outright at the way they jumped and whirled around unsteadily to face her.

"Wow," one of them drawled. "Wow."

"No shit," the main boy said, finally impressed. "How'd you do that?"

"How did you do that, _who_?" she shot back, grinning.

He rolled his eyes but said, "How did you do that, _Raven_?"

"Ha!" Anna jumped lightly from her branch. She smiled craftily and wiggled her fingers at them. "Magic."

"I'm not going to pay you if you don't tell me," the boy threatened, waving the bundle of cash in front of her.

"That's fine," Anna said lightly, though inside she was irked. _You are not in the position to be making threats_, she raged inside. She snapped her fingers and the boy grasped at empty air.

"Hey!" he yelled. "Give it back, you thief!"

Anna laughed as she opened her fist and revealed the green paper. "Thanks, babe!" she called over her shoulder as she turned and ran, getting in her car and driving quickly away, leaving behind only her laughter.

She stopped at a red light and excitedly counted out the money. She had enough for the drive to Vegas. It would be a long one from Missouri, but that was fine. She had more than enough for gas, food, and anything else she wanted. As for what to gamble with, that wouldn't be a problem. If she could get money doing magic tricks on the streets of Missouri, she could get money doing tricks on the streets of Nevada.

Anna turned onto the highway and set her sights in the direction of the fabulous Las Vegas.

"Believe, and anything is possible," she whispered with a mocking laugh. "Whatever. Vegas, here I come!"


End file.
